County wants DUI convicts to pay for jail stay

If Pima County officials have their way, more convicted drunken
drivers will soon have to pay for the privilege of eating and
sleeping at the county's Adult Detention Center.

Jail officials recently met with judges and top prosecutors to
remind them that they have the authority to make convicted drunken
drivers reimburse counties for the cost of locking them up — which
the jail officials want them to do.

Although the law has been on the books since 1997, and
prosecutors include it in plea agreements, judges have not been
consistently imposing the fee, said Jan Kearney, presiding Pima
County Superior Court judge.

"The sheriff requested we look at imposing those fees more often
in view of the current financial situation," Kearney said.

Pima County statistics show 876 people were convicted of drunken
driving between January and June of 2008. They spent a combined
16,595 days at the jail, costing the county about $1.24
million.

Still, Kearney and Superior Court Judge Richard Fields said the
chances of judges imposing the fees remains unlikely, for the same
reason they haven't been regularly imposed in the first place.

Drunken driving is one of the most expensive crimes to commit in
terms of the fines and fees required by state lawmakers and
fighting at trial, Fields said.

For example, felony drunken drivers are required to pay $1,500
to the state general fund and another $1,500 to the prison
construction operating fund. In addition, they more than likely
have to pay restitution, lawyers, monthly probation fees and other
fines.

"I don't fault the sheriff at all for asking, but the reality is
we have to make an assessment of what defendants can afford to
pay," Fields said. "In the end, you can only get so much from
folks."

Kearney agreed, noting that there is no point assessing
reimbursement fees knowing they won't get paid and knowing the
defendant would end up in jail again for not paying them.

Requiring defendants to pay for their beds makes more sense to
him than requiring them to pay into the state general and prison
funds, but he doesn't have a choice between the three, Fields
said.

Defense attorney Joseph St. Louis said he was unaware that
judges have not been asking those convicted of driving under the
influence to reimburse the county, but he found the idea wholly
unattractive.

"When you have a super-extreme DUI case, where someone has to go
to jail for 45 days, you're looking at $6,000 between the DUI costs
and the jail costs," St. Louis said. "Who can go to jail for 45
days and still have a job? By forcing them to pay for their jail
stay too, you are guaranteeing someone will not be able to keep
their home or support their family.

"At some point, enough is enough," St. Louis said.

In response to jail officials' request, the Pima County
Attorney's Office revised the language of its plea agreements to
help judges determine exactly what fees to impose, said Bruce
Chalk, deputy county attorney

Instead of simply referring to the statute, the plea agreements
now state someone who stays in the jail one day must pay $175, two
to 10 days, $250, 11 to 30 days $800, and 31 days or more $2,000,
Chalk said.

Chalk, along with Fields, pointed out that an additional problem
with imposing the reimbursement fees is logistical. There is no
mechanism in place to collect them.

The cost of A DUI

Getting caught driving under the influence can be expensive, as
those convicted are hit with a litany of different fees and fines.
And these figures don't even include attorneys' fees, restitution
or jail-reimbursement fees.